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Sam Hewitt

  • Station destroyed as political unrest curtails Darjeeling services

    Station destroyed as political unrest curtails Darjeeling services

    by

    Sam Hewitt

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    A STATION on the world-famous Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (DHR) has been destroyed and another badly damaged following several weeks of political unrest in the Darjeeling area. The situation, at the height of the tourist season, has led to a complete suspension of all DHR services. Gaybari station was destroyed in an arson attack, while Sonada…

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  • France opens two new high-speed lines in a day

    France opens two new high-speed lines in a day

    by

    Sam Hewitt

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    By Keith Fender FRENCH Railways (SNCF) added another 484 route kilometres to its high-speed rail network from July 1, expanding the length of the French high-speed rail network by a fifth in a single day. It now totals 2,916km. Two new 320kph lines opened connecting Paris with Bordeaux in the south west and Rennes in…

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  • Mail Rail – London’s newest tourist railway

    Mail Rail – London’s newest tourist railway

    by

    Sam Hewitt

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    By Keith Fender THE new National Postal Museum opened its doors to the public on July 28. Located in Phoenix Place between King’s Cross and Farringdon, the museum is next to Royal Mail Mount Pleasant sorting centre. A key aspect of the postal museum’s attraction will be a section of the former Post Office Railway…

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  • Vandals wreck Moors’ LNER teak carriages

    Vandals wreck Moors’ LNER teak carriages

    by

    Sam Hewitt

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    By Chris Milner THE systematic and deliberate targeting by vandals of the North Yorkshire Moors Railway’s (NYMR’s) historic teak carriages has been described as “heartbreaking”. A set of eight LNER carriages, owned and maintained by the London and North Eastern Railway Coach Association (LNERCA), was attacked overnight on July 23 while parked in the siding…

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  • South Yorkshire tram-train project 400% over budget

    South Yorkshire tram-train project 400% over budget

    by

    Sam Hewitt

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    By Ben Jones               A report by the National Audit Office (NAO) has revealed that the cost of the heavily delayed South Yorkshire tram-train pilot scheme has soared to more than five times its original budget. Authorised in 2012 for completion by December 2015 at a cost of £15million, the project has been repeatedly delayed by…

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  • HS2 forges ahead as Northern routes are confirmed

    HS2 forges ahead as Northern routes are confirmed

    by

    Sam Hewitt

    –

    By Ben Jones JULY 17 saw three significant announcements for High Speed 2 (HS2) as the planned routes for Phase 2b to Manchester and Leeds were confirmed, £6.6 billion of construction contracts were awarded for Phase 1 and shortlists were announced for the design and construction of the four Phase 1 stations. Transport Secretary Chris…

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  • Decision on new East Midlands’ franchise delayed

    by

    Sam Hewitt

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    THE Department for Transport (DfT) has launched a new public consultation for the next East Midlands’ franchise and pushed back a decision on the new operator until April 2019. As a result, the franchise is now expected to change hands in August 2019, just four months before the current East Midlands Trains HSTs are due…

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  • Government scraps electrification in favour of bi-modes

    by

    Sam Hewitt

    –

    By Ben Jones AS WAS widely feared in the regions affected, the Department for Transport (DfT) has cancelled projects to electrify the Midland Main Line between Kettering and Nottingham/Sheffield, the South Wales Main Line between Cardiff and Swansea and the Oxenholme-Windermere branch. Trans-Pennine electrification from Manchester to Leeds may also be affected by the decision…

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  • THE KESTREL STORY: The big bird that flew too far

    THE KESTREL STORY: The big bird that flew too far

    by

    Sam Hewitt

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    Part 2: Soviet Union and derivatives by Robert Humm It’s 50 years since the prototype diesel Kestrel first graced the British Rail network, but after four years it was sold to Russia. The RM presents the story of its life behind the Iron Curtain and the locos it inspired in the USSR. As we saw…

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  • No ball for the Cinderella line

    No ball for the Cinderella line

    by

    Sam Hewitt

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    FOR those of us working within the rail industry, it was no surprise that the Government backtracked and abandoned key electrification schemes, preferring instead to employ bi-mode trains. The signs have been pointing to such a decision for months. It was all a question of timing – which unsurprisingly came on the eve of the…

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